Apparatus for moving work through a continuous reheating furnace



J. B. EVANS 3,411,762

APPARATUS FOR MOVING WORK THROUGH A CONTINUOUS REHEATING FURNACE Nov. 19, 1968 Filed Dec. 20,' 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JUL IUS B. EVANS WORK THROUGH A CONTINUOUS REHEATING FURNACE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 20, 1966 MM 7 T A M N r EE 0 V H mi 8 w L mm mm mm R N mm 9 Raw. 0 o o G mm, V 0 Wm DVu, A 0 \M\J\ m m o m 0 mm m a 4 4 mm {J r "NU W N WM INN vw J .Wu J p; I i o 0 on R V a M J o ll v \W v %w O NM Wm mm 9 m m o o o o o 0 Q. l..\ m mm United States Patent s 411 762 APPARATUS FOR Movrfilo WORK THROUGH A CONTINUOUS REHEATING FURN Julius B. Evans,

Steel Corporation, a

Filed Dec. 20,

8 Claims. (Cl. 263-8) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an improved apparatus for moving semifinished metal shapes through a continuous reheating furnace.

A conventional continuous reheating furnace includes an enclosed elongated chamber through which work travels from the charging end to the discharge end. The work is supported on water-cooled skids which extend the of the length of the furnace. The furnace chamber is divided into several combustion zones situated both above problems in operating this type of furnace is that areas on the bottom of the work contacted by the skids tend to remain cooler than the rest of the work. These cool spots, known as skid marks, interfere with subsequent rolling operations.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for moving work through a continuous reheating furnace, which apparatus substantially eliminates skid marks from the work.

A further object is to provide an apparatus for moving work through a furnace in which I replace the usual skids with a pair of endless ceramic block conveyor strands.

A more specific-object is to provide an apparatus of the foregoing type-inwhich the strands travel thorugh watercooled troughs as they pass through the furnace and automatically deposit the work on a hearth near the discharge end of the furnace.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view with parts broken away of a continuous reheating furnace equipped with my apparatus for moving the work therethrough;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal section on line FIGURE 1',

FIGURE 3 is a partial vertical cross section on a larger scale on line III-III of FIGURE 1 with the furnace parts omitted for clarity;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view with parts broken away of two of the links which make up my conveyor strands; and

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of a link.

FIGURES l and 2. show a continuous reheating furnace which includes side walls 10, a roof 12, and a bottom wall II-II of The chamber of the furnace illustrated has two upper heating zones 14 and 1-5 and one lower heating zone 16, which are equipped with conventional burners 19, although the number of zones may vary. Products of combustion from the burners leave the furnace chamber through a furnace respectively.

3,411,762 Patented Nov. 19, 1968 ice flue near the charging end (the right as viewed in FIG- URE 1). Preferably the furnace is of a type in which the flue extends upwardly from the roof to avoid obstructions beneath the furnace. Work W (for example, steel slabs or billets) enters the furnace through a door 21 at the charging end, travels the length of the furnace and across a short-length hearth 22, slides down a 23, and discharges through a door 24. A conveyor 25 carries the heated work from the furnace. Apart from my apparatus for moving the work, the furnace can be of conventional construction, and hence is not shown in detail.

My apparatus for moving work through the furnace comprises a pair of endless conveyor strands 26 and 2611, the carrying flights of which travel through the furnace in water-cooled troughs 27 and 27a respectively. I support the troughs on a plurality of water-cooled pipes 28 which extend upwardly from the bottom wall 13 and are of inverted U-shape. The troughs extend into the furnace immediately below the charging are parallel through most of the length of the furnace, but diverge Opposite the hearth 22, as indicated at 30. They exten out the furnace through openings 31 in the side walls 10 near the discharge end. The Outside the Openings 31 again become parallel, as indicated at 32. The extremities of the troughs slope upwardly, as indicated at 33, and are connected to water inlet and outlet pipes 34 and 35 outside the charging and discharge ends of the After leaving the troughs, the strands 26 and 26a travel around power-driven sprockets 36 and idler rollers 37 iournaled on horizontal axes. The sprockets propel the strands, and together with the rollers, direct their return flights beneath the furnace. In their return flights the strands converge around inside and outside guide rollers 38 and 39 journaled beneath the furnace on vertical axes. Subsequently the strands travel around other idler rollers 40 and 41 which are journaled on horizontal axes and direct the strands into the troughs 27 and 27a at the charging end. Preferably the strands ride along supports 42 to prevent their sagging as they travel between rollers 39 and 40.

FIGURES 3, 4 and 5 show the construction of strand 26 and trough 27 in more detail. The other strand and trough are similar, except of opposite hand. I form strand 26 of a large number of links, each of which includes a cylindrical ceramic block 43 and a metal casing 44 for the block. The ceramic material can be any which can sustain the weight of the work at the furnace temperature, such as silicon carbide. The exterior of each casing carries an eye 45 and a diametrically opposed hook 46. Each hook engages the eye of the adjacent casing to join the links together, but permit relative movement both horizontally and vertically. Trough 27 is formed of metal and is T-shaped in cross section. The bottom wall of the trough carries a series of opposed pairs of bearing lugs 47 in which are journaled rollers 48. The inside faces of the side walls carry bearing strips 49. The bottom faces of blocks 43 ride on rollers 48, and the side faces of the casings 44- ride against strips 49. The bottom face of each block has notches 50 spaced to receive the teeth of sprocket 36.

Along its upper edges trough 27 has opposed inwardly facing channels 52 which project outwardly from the body of the trough. Each casing 44 carries a cover plate 53, the side edges of which fit within these channels. The leading portion of each cover plate is offset upwardly from the trailing portion and overlaps the trailing portion of the adjacent cover plate. The upper flanges of channels 27 terminate at the beginning of the sloping sections 33 in order not to interfere with the cover plates 53 as the links of strand 26 enter and leave trough 27. The leading edge of each cover plate has a concave recess 54 (FIG- URE 5) which receives the adjacent block 43. The trailing edge is rounded, as indicated at 55. Thus the cover plates effectively enclose the top of trough 27 and confine water therein without intefering with relative movement of the blocks.

The furnace has short-length skids 56 which extend from door 21 at the charging end above a portion of the plane of strands 26 and 26a (FIGURES 1 and 2).

as the conveyor 25 illustrated.

While I have shown and described only a single embodiment of appended claims.

I claim: :1. In a continuous reheating furnace which includes: Walls defining a chamber having charging and discharge of links conrelative movement both water-cooled means within said chamber supporting and guiding said carrying flights; and

means outside said chamber engaging said strands for guiding said return flights;

said carrying flights extending in parallel relation from end and deposit it on said hearth. 2. A combination as defined in claim 1 in which said water-cooled means includes metal troughs extending 3. A combination as defined in troughs have opposed gaging notches in their bottom faces.

6. A combination as defined ing around said rollers.

7. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which said chamber has a flue extending upwardly to avoid obstructions beneath.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,878,896 9/1932 Sessions 263-8 1,882,855 10/1932 Melin 263-8 2,892,422 6/1959 Casale 198-190 X 2,986,387 5/1961 Illing 263-8 3,100,106 8/1963 Bielenberg 2638 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner. EDWARD G. FAVORS, Assistant Examiner. 

